[...]... decisions on his own They did a lot of damage to our foreign relations, such as in the turn toward the Cold War, our actions against Tito in Yugoslavia, and our decision to boycott the United Nations Security Council during the Korean War in 1951 Yet on the whole Stalin was quite favorably disposed toward Gromyko and took his opinion into consideration After Stalin's death, Gromyko, who was otherwise a... proposals to reach the appropriate level in the Soviet Union in an unofficial way through my channels They knew that when I returned to the Soviet Union on vacation I was not just going to the Crimea but would be stopping in Moscow to speak to members of the Politburo and other high officials in the Kremlin Henry Kissinger, who in his memoirs chides me in jest for being in Moscow when he wanted to convey... officials in Washington with whom I developed confidential relations understood that what they told me would in due course find its way back to the Kremlin What they gave me were not state secrets but principally political information, personal views, and their ideas about how to solve difficult problems In return I had to supply them in the same coin about a subject that would interest them People do not invite... dictated his own wording, which Gromyko took down right there Gromyko recalled that in sending him as ambassador to Washington, Stalin had given him a piece of advice Upon learning that Gromyko did not know English too well, Stalin advised him to go to American churches on Sunday and listen to the sermons He said that the preachers spoke a language understandable to plain people and since the sermons reflected... Gromyko? So ambassadors would deliver a note from Washington, explain it in front of a number of officials from both sides who sat there translating, taking notes, or observing the conversation A confidential chat in Moscow to exchange inside political information was just not possible with our strict sense of secrecy in the Kremlin and the formal way in which we conducted our foreign affairs In this sense,... especially those that were sent to the top to Vyshinsky, Molotov, and even Stalin—and then returned to us with their comments and instructions 1 thus obtained broad experience in how our policies were developed and formulated Things 1 did not understand, I asked Zorin about at opportune moments He always took the time to explain why this or that question had been solved in a particular way I must note... the entire state machine was organized in a very strange and bizarre way, "in keeping with Stalin." Stalin used to start his working day at 4 or 5 P.M (nobody knew why for sure) Vyshinsky and Molotov, accordingly, showed up in the ministry at about 1 or 2 P.M., and their deputies were at their desks an hour or so earlier than that Those of us in the Secretariat took turns working around the clock The... against the wall and stood there waiting for Stalin to pass by He did not fail to notice my confusion When he came over to me he asked who 1 was and where I worked Then, stressing his words by slowly moving a finger of his right hand in front of my face, he said, "Youth mustn't fear comrade Stalin He is its friend." With this he nodded and proceeded to where he was going Late that night I told Zorin... duties of the minister) for final approval Gromyko took his time On the one hand, he did not want to disturb Stalin because in his opinion the rubleyuan rate was not a very significant matter But on the other, Gromyko's innate circumspection made him hesitate The Chinese government and our embassy in Beijing once again began pressing for a decision Once again Zorin supported them Gromyko finally approved,... tell them anything in return So I was prepared to tell them information about my country that would interest the secretary of state, or defense, or the vice president, so they would want to meet with me again I thus felt at liberty, although within certain limits, to probe for new ideas that might find their way into formal negotiations and would be useful to both sides With Kissinger, for instance, this . House, Inc., in 1995. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING -IN- PUBLICATION DATA Dobrynin, Anatoliy Federovich In confidence : Moscow's ambassador to America's six Cold War presidents / by Anatoly. class="bi x0 y0 w0 h0" alt="" IN CONFIDENCE